I was recently talking to my wife, as I sometimes do, and we were discussing large weather events. Tornadoes, to be specific.
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Being in Lloydminster, we’re in a rather interesting landscape of weather events. Sometimes, storms pass over us and sometimes, they touch down. Even our winters are odd. Sometimes snow just completely misses us, not that I’ll complain.
In particular, Hope and I were talking about the 1980s and how tornadoes swept through the area causing damage. The Prairies are no stranger to strong thunderstorms and tornadoes, but in 1982, one swept through the area causing damage to a local farm.
The following year saw a storm that sticks out in my mind. Storm chasing is something that is immensely popular today. I’m sure it was back then, too, but I wasn’t around to experience it.
People get in their vehicles, grab their cameras and recording devices and head towards a storm. Hail, thunderstorms, tornadoes – there’s plenty for people to chase.
In 1983, a large tornado was clearly visible to the west of Lloyd. People climbed on their roofs to get a better view and even drove toward it. Luckily for all those risk takers, the tornado didn’t swerve towards them.
It was strong enough to cause $2 million in property damage, destroy farm buildings, killed animals and left one individual injured.
A violent summer thunderstorm in 2000 spawned several tornadoes, with one even passing over Lloyd but never touching down. It was a very lucky moment for the Border City. Things could have gone quite different had it touched down. Another one did touch down to the north, causing extensive damage to a farm, with the residents sheltering in the basement nearly escaping serious injury.
Coming from the middle of nowhere B.C., a thunderstorm usually didn’t mean tornadoes, it meant wildfires.
Having come to the Prairies, the same storm now has a different connotation.
I’m thankful to have not experienced any bad weather-related incidents, but it’s sure neat to read about.
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